Veterans’ Haven offers homeless veterans place to stay for six months

PEORIA — In the middle of the 700 block of Northeast Monroe Street stands a large two-story house with unassuming white paint. On Tuesday, it began offering homeless veterans a safe haven.

The house is now the Veterans’ Haven, a place for area homeless veterans to call home for six months. During that time, the South Side Office of Concern will help them find a more permanent residence.

“These are people who have sacrificed for this country. It’s the least we can do,” Jeff Gress, vice president of operations for the South Side Office of Concern, said Tuesday afternoon.

After purchasing the house in November of 2013, the South Side Office of Concern spent seven months fixing the place up and getting the house ready to shelter 15 veterans, which was almost double the amount they were able to house in their last building.

“There are currently 54 homeless vets in Peoria County,” Gress said, citing Veterans Administration figures. “We’ll be able to house 15,” he added. “That speaks to a need. It’s still a great need, but we’re addressing that need.”

“Always remember that it’s the little things that count,” said Bryant Ragler, an employee of the South Side Office of Concern. “It may not house everyone, but it’s the small things that count.”

The house is a culmination of many small things. Some of the furniture was donated by Bradley University from old dorm rooms. Volunteers and staff members put in hours repairing walls and cleaning floors. Food will be brought in daily by the Human Service Center, a state agency with an office in Downtown Peoria.

“Living together, sharing a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, it gives them a sense of togetherness. When you’re going through being homeless, you don’t get that at all,” Gress said.

By Tuesday, the first day the home was open, five veterans were in the process of moving in.

“Three of the guys that will be living here are at work now. Another one is at school,” Gress said. “These guys are driven to improve their lives.”

Employees of South Side Office of Concern will help the veterans figure out future employment and housing options, but they will also serve as sounding boards for frustrations or whatever the veterans would need.

“Every day, that is what I do. I listen, I help,” Ragler said. “It’s exhilarating at times. Sometimes, it takes your mind off of what you got going on in your life, your problems.”

With not even all five of the initial veterans moved in Tuesday, the house was quiet. When the house gets closer to being full, Gress looks forward to helping them.

“My father was a veteran, so this is something I have a connection to,” Gress said. “We all look forward too taking a look at putting their life together in a way that’s meaningful for them.”

How to help

To donate anything to Veterans’ Haven, contact Kimberly Weeks, director of development for the South Side Office of Concern, at 222-2751 or kweeks@southsideofficeofconern.org.

Zach Berg can be reached at zberg@pjstar.com or 686-3257. Follow him on Twitter @ZacharyBerg.